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Tuesday :: October 18, 2005

Chertoff Declares Open Season on Undocumented Residents

The AP reports that Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff has declared open war on undocumented residents.

Atrios responds:

There's nothing necessarily wrong with a general policy of expelling illegal immigrants, aside from the cost of course, although it's important to remember that plenty of illegals have perfectly legal children and/or spouses. But I don't look forward to living in a "show your papers please" society.

Me neither. Nor should local police be used to enforce immigration laws. As to how Chertoff intends to accomplish his goal, here's the predictable answer. More jails.

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No Passes for Judy Miller

Arianna continues on her Judy mission with this latest that includes a photo of Arianna, Judy and others amongst the Aspen trees, right after having heard Karl Rove marvel at how we would be hailed as liberators in Iraq. Take a minute and read it.

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Say Hello: Progressive Law Blogs

Say hello to the brand new Progressive Law Blogs aggregator site. In one place, you can find the latest posts by:

  • Armando
  • Balkinization
  • Discourse.net
  • Is That Legal?
  • Nathan Newman
  • Sentencing Law and Policy
  • Talk Left
  • Vote Law

    We began this effort to keep track of what those in the progressive legal blogosphere, both professors and practitioners, are writing about issues of the day, for example, Supreme Court Nominations, consitutional issues, election law, labor law, criminal sentencing and even PlameGate. We will be growing, both in the number of included blogs and in the topics covered, and I hope you agree this is a worthwhile project.

    Update: We're working on an RSS feed.

  • (3 comments) Permalink :: Comments

    The Latest Rumor: Cheney Might Resign

    US News and World Report says rumors of Cheney's impending resignation are flying around DC - as well as speculation Bush would appoint Condi Rice to replace him - and wouldn't that be the ultimate Machiavellian move?

    I don't buy it. I think this will be Cheney's position to the very end. [hat tip Patriot Daily.]

    (23 comments, 307 words in story) There's More :: Permalink :: Comments

    Tuesday Open Thread

    I suspect Fitzgerald and the RoveGate participants are busy writing plea agreements and making arrangements to surrender to authorities - and that major news won't break until late this afternoon or even later this week. So, I'm heading back to work.

    For major newsbreaks, keep checking Huffington Post and Raw Story. For video replays, head over to Crooks and Liars. For a roundup of opinions on both sides, head to Gabe Rivera's Memeorandum, and congrats to Gabe for this very flattering and true Tech Station article about his site. My favorite line, of course, is this one:

    Gabe Rivera has built a website seamlessly driven by a proprietary algorithm which fuses blogs and MSM stories into a one page intersection of instant commentary lined up with political news and tech news. This is fresh. The algorithm updates every five minutes. It covers opinion: where else can you see TalkLeft and Powerline on the same page. It's a very quick read. And, amazingly, it is largely automatic.

    The New York Times also has a roundup of blogger posts on PlameGate. No need to stick to that topic though, this thread's for you. For an assortment, don't miss Cursor.

    (21 comments) Permalink :: Comments

    Raw Story: John Hannah Is Cooperating

    Raw Story reports that Cheney Aide John Hannah is cooperating with Fitzgerald. If it's true, I'm not surprised. In John Hannah and Lewis Libby Still Key in Plame Probe, I wrote:

    I think this UPI article by Richard Sale from February 5, 2004 is right on the money.

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    Harriet Miers Submits Questionnaire

    Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers has submitted her questionnaire.

    In 1989, she pledged support for the Human Life Amendment.

    The abortion issue hangs over Miers' nomination much as it did over the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts earlier this year. The situations are different, however — Roberts replaced the late William Rehnquist, who voted to overturn the 1973 abortion ruling. Miers would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has voted to uphold it.

    "A candidate taking a political position in the course of a campaign is different from the role of a judge making a ruling in the judicial process." said Jim Dyke, a White House spokesman.

    In interviews with Senators, she has denied telling anyone how she would vote on Roe v. Wade.

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    Let's Make a Deal : The Legalese of PlameGate

    Reuters is speculating that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald may be offering putative defendants one last chance to make a deal in the Valerie Plame investigation.

    The prosecutor investigating the outing of a covert CIA operative has yet to say whether he will bring charges, but he has decided to announce decisions in the case in Washington rather than Chicago, where he is based, his spokesman said on Monday....It is unusual for Fitzgerald's office to offer comment on any aspect of the case and Monday's statement led some observers to wonder if it might be a signal that a decision was imminent or that Fitzgerald was trying to increase pressure on potential targets to cut a deal.

    It has to be a tempting offer for several of them.

    (18 comments, 748 words in story) There's More :: Permalink :: Comments

    Monday :: October 17, 2005

    Report: White House Official May Have Flipped

    Bump and Update: Here's the Daily News story:

    Cheney's name has come up amid indications Fitzgerald may be edging closer to a blockbuster conspiracy charge - with help from a secret snitch. "They have got a senior cooperating witness - someone who is giving them all of that," a source who has been questioned in the leak probe told the Daily News yesterday.

    *****
    Original Post:

    Raw Story reports that the New York Daiy News will report in Tuesday's edition that a high level White House official has flipped and is now helping Fitzgerald.

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    Fitzgerald Speaks: Decision to be Announced in D.C.

    The ever-secretive Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald announced today that the outcome of the Valerie Plame leak investigation will be announced in Washington, not Chicago.

    "If and when there would be any announcement, it would be made in Washington," said Randall Samborn, Fitzgerald's spokesman....It is unusual for Fitzgerald's office to offer comment on any aspect of the case and Monday's statement led some observers to wonder if it might be a signal that a decision was imminent or that Fitzgerald was trying to increase pressure on potential targets to cut a deal.

    That tells me there will be indictments. The case is in D.C., and anyone indicted will have to surrender and appear for court there. If there weren't going to be indictments, Fitzgerald could make that announcement from anywhere.

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    Was the AP Snookered on WINPAC story?

    The Associated Press reports that Judith Miller's notes from one of her conversations with Lewis Libby are wrong, and that the error may help Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in his probe. I think this is more spin coming from Lewis Libby's team.

    Miller disclosed this weekend that her notes of a conversation she had with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on July 8, 2003 stated Cheney's top aide told her that the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson worked for the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Control (WINPAC) unit.

    Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, never worked for WINPAC, an analysis unit in the overt side of the CIA, and instead worked in a position in the CIA's secret side, known as the directorate of operations, according to three people familiar with her work for the spy agency.

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    List of Reporter Contacts Subpoenaed by Fitzgerald

    I just re-discovered this handy little list from Newsday in March, 2004:

    A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July. They include:

    Robert Novak, "Crossfire," "Capital Gang" and the Chicago Sun-Times
    Knut Royce and Timothy M. Phelps, Newsday
    Walter Pincus, Richard Leiby, Mike Allen, Dana Priest and Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post
    Matthew Cooper, John Dickerson, Massimo Calabresi, Michael Duffy and James Carney, Time magazine
    Evan Thomas, Newsweek
    Andrea Mitchell, "Meet the Press," NBC
    Chris Matthews, "Hardball," MSNBC
    Tim Russert, Campbell Brown, NBC
    Nicholas D. Kristof, David E. Sanger and Judith Miller, The New York Times
    Greg Hitt and Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal
    John Solomon, The Associated Press
    Jeff Gannon, Talon News

    Note it is not the reporters who were subpoenaed, but records of White House contacts with them.

    (4 comments) Permalink :: Comments

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